Race Report

I had a pretty good weekend at Mission, B.C. a couple weeks ago. It was nice to have a couple days to spend with my family before the weekend, and after the previous weekend at Infineon, I needed a little bit of down time.

Thankfully the race weekend only consisted of a one day event. That was nice because at that point, I’d been running myself ragged for 4 weeks straight. It does make for a fairly hectic day though, having to set up, go through the full race schedule, and tear down, all in the same day. To make things a little worse, it was raining. Also, I was going to have to ride my 600 in all of the classes, as the Blitzkrieg (the 1000) was in for repairs.

The morning practice was quite an adventure. Turns out that the motocross racers have to cross the roadrace track to get from the moto track to their pits. Since the moto guys were out the previous two days, and it was wet and their bikes were covered in mud, that portion of the track was caked in mud. Nobody seemed to realize it until we got out there. I wish I had knobbies. There was a delay as they found means to clean the track, but I suggested they just leave it and eventually it would berm up and we could rail it with a foot out (kidding).

The qualifiers finally got under way once they got the track cleaned up and I ended up 2nd in one of them and won the other. Not a bad start to the day.

The first Superbike race went pretty well. I can’t remember if I got the holeshot or had to make a pass for the lead, but I ended up there pretty quick anyway. From there I just kind of kept my head down and tried not to make any mistakes. Near the end of the race I could hear another bike behind me in a couple of the slow corners, so I knew I wasn’t alone, but I held on for the win.

600 Supersport was next up. I got up behind the leader and just sort of hung there for the duration of the race. He was a little quicker than me in a couple spots, and I was a little quicker than him here and there too, but in the end I really didn’t have a chance to make a pass. On the last lap going into one of the final turns I hit a neutral. Without the engine braking I couldn’t get it stopped for the turn, and went off into the gravel. That cost me a position and I ended up third.

Things went pretty well in Open Supersport. Although I was on the 600, I got the holeshot, and pulled away from the field to win by about 5 or 6 seconds.

The last Superbike race was a little bit of a let down. Since I’d been in the hunt for the win of every race so far in the day I was really looking forward to another shot at the chequered flag. I got pinched off real bad off the start and had to let off the gas to keep from getting sandwiched between two other bikes. I was fourth going into the first turn. It only took me a lap or so to get into third, but I never really was able to close the gap up to the two leaders. I kept it even for a number of laps, but it seemed that my rear tire was a little used up at this point. I really expected to be able to challenge for the win, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. I ended up third.

Overall I’m happy with how the day went. It felt really good to have the bike work properly and not chuck it away during the race weekend (maybe it’s extra good it was only a 1 day event). Plus finishing on the box in all of them, and being in the hunt for the win almost all day always feels good too.

Now I’ve got a bunch of weekends off, and look forward to taking a break, getting some sun, and trying to get my life back to order.

Next event is Portland in a few weeks. Thanks for reading, and wish me luck.